Michael Timbrook ‘91

Mike Timbrook is a first officer for Delta Airlines and a 1991 graduate of the aviation studies program at BGSU. He served in the Ohio Air National Guard and flew fighter jets for the military for over 20 years before retiring and joining Delta Airlines.

When Mike started at BGSU, aviation was a small and personalized program. Some of his fondest memories are from his time with the Falcon Flight Team competing with pilots in training at other universities. He was also president of Alpha Eta Rho, the professional aviation fraternity.

When he graduated, he was selected for pilot training in the military. Timbrook credits his military career with providing flight hours and tuition assistance, but also with travel and experiences that “people can only dream of.” His military training also made him an ideal candidate when he applied to Delta in 2014.

One of the favorite parts of his job is meeting people. He especially likes when children visit the cockpit and they’re in awe of all the switches and computer screens. Timbrook loves giving them a lasting, positive memory of flying.

His advice to aviation students is to “stay focused, work hard on continuing to build your hours, get your ratings, and you’ll get where you want to go.” Getting the required 1500 hours of flying time and ratings for a commercial license is “a long road, but it’s worth it.”